1. Field Of The Invention
The process of the present invention pertains to the production of energy from the use of water introduced down a borehole. More particularly, the present invention relates to process for producing energy through an air turbine from the introduction of water down a borehole, the utilization of geothermal heat to return this water in the form of steam, and the further production of energy from the water converted to steam. There may be further provided in the process the production of potable water from seawater utilizing the present process.
2. General Background
In the field of production of energy from various sources, one of the most promising avenues is energy from geothermal sources, or from underground-produced steam. This particular source of energy, although promising, has been very difficult to achieve on a widespread and economic scale, and will require a vast expense of time and money in research. However, at the present time, there exists a vast number of abandoned oil and gas wells, particularly in the states of Louisiana and Texas, which have been drilled and cased to some 20,000 to 30,000 feet, and may hold some promise to be utilized in conjunction with the production of geothermal energy.
The use of various types of systems introduced downhole to produce energy is widely known, the most pertinent being the subject of patents granted in the field. A patentability search on the subject resulted in the following patents:
______________________________________ PAT. NO. TITLE ISSUE DATE ______________________________________ 4,077,220 "Gravity Head Geothermal Energy Mar. 7, 1978 Conversion System" 4,181,468 "Geothermal Energy Pump Monitor Jan. 1, 1980 And Telemetric System" 4,325,681 "Geothermal Irrigation Pump" Apr. 20, 1982 4,541,246 "Limitless Heat Source Power Sep. 17, 1985 Plants" 4,866,939 "Method And Apparatus For Sep. 19, 1989 Extracting Geothermal Fluid" 3,470,943 "Geothermal Exchange System" Oct. 7, 1969 3,857,244 "Energy Recovery And Dec. 31, 1974 Conversion System" 4,043,129 "High Temperature Geothermal Aug. 23, 1977 Energy System" 4,576,006 "Geothermal Hot Water Mar. 18, 1986 Transportation And Utilization System" ______________________________________